Music and art will take center stage during Sunday night’s second production of ‘Spotlight Project’

By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald — World-class musician Scott Hitchings of Oakridge will be the featured performer Sunday night, May 30, when the curtain goes up on the second production of the community’s ambitious Spotlight Project.

Hitchings lived and worked professionally as a musician in Los Angeles for more than three decades before moving to Oakridge, where he owns a recording studio and teaches music. Known primarily as a keyboardist and vocalist, he has written, arranged, produced or performed with such artists as The Supremes, The Temptations, Spencer Davis, Jefferson Starship and Jr. Walker & The All-Stars.

Joining Hitchings on the Willamette Activity Center stage Sunday evening will be host Becky Chamberlain and interviewer Catrina Davis. Both Oakridge women have been popular entertainers and actors with the community’s Zero Clearance Theater Company.

The family-friendly production will also feature special guest Sissy Cutchen, an Oakridge artist who is respected nationally for her approach to a folk-art form sometimes called “box art.” The whimsical name comes from the manner in which artisans incorporate found objects such as boxes, picture frames or even window sashes into their art. Cutchen’s style is considered unique in that she marries her contemporary folk art to the centuries-old technique of eglomise, the painting of glass on its reverse side. Examples of her work can be seen at several local venues such as Lion Mountain Bakery or Miguel’s, as well as on her website.

Admission to Sunday’s 7 p.m. show is free, but don’t show up at the WAC to watch it. Because of lingering COVID-19 restrictions, the event will be live-streamed on Facebook, just as the first such production was on May 16.

Anyone anywhere in the world can view the program at no charge online by going to https://www.facebook.com/Spotlightingtalent and clicking on The Spotlight Project Presents.

The production is the culmination of months of volunteer effort by Oakridge volunteers Loren Christopher Michaels, Rachel Nehmer and a cast of many others.

“We are very excited with this week’s show,” Michaels said. “We have spent a great deal of time working out the ghosts in the machine and are in hopes of having a semi-glitch-free broadcast. That being said, we are learning as we go and doing our level best to give our community something to be proud of.”

The event will afford yet another opportunity for the community to get a look at the new performing arts venue created by Michaels and Nehmer through the complete refurbishing of the WAC auditorium stage. With the help of several volunteers, they have repainted the stage, resurfaced the floors and installed curtains, lighting and sound equipment along with building a complete broadcast system to give local talent a COVID-19-safe environment to share their talents with the people of Oakridge, Westfir and beyond.

The format of “The Spotlight Project Presents” is part talk show and part variety show with guest interviews and live stage performances. Plans call for a different broadcast every other Sunday at 7 p.m.